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North Korean Defectors Rescued Off Japan Coast

TOKYO — Nine North Korean defectors, including three children, were rescued off the coast of Japan after drifting some 500 miles in a small wooden boat, the Japanese Coast Guard said Tuesday.

The Coast Guard said it had picked up the nine after Japanese fishermen spotted their vessel — a 24-foot boat lacking an engine and any kind of roof — in waters near the port of Wajima on the north-central coast of Japan. The fishermen recognized the vessel as foreign because the hull was marked with Korean characters, according to the Coast Guard.

The group included three men, three women and the three children, who appeared to be of elementary school age.

It was not clear how long they had been adrift, but all appeared to be in good health and were taken aboard a Japanese cutter, the Coast Guard said. One of the men said they were members of one extended family and had set off from the eastern coast of North Korea with the intent of drifting to South Korea. They ended up hundreds of miles due east of the North.

It is rare for North Korean defectors to reach Japan by boat, a journey that requires them to cross the rough, cold and forbidding Sea of Japan. Japanese news reports show only two such cases, the most recent four years ago.

The Coast Guard said it would take the nine to a nearby port in Japan while the central government in Tokyo considers their case. The group’s leader indicated they still want to go to South Korea, the Coast Guard said.

A version of this article appears in print on September 14, 2011, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Defectors Rescued Off Coast Of Japan. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe